An evaluation of three-field coplanar plans for conformal radiotherapy of prostate cancer

Abstract

Background and purpose: A series of coplanar three-field configurations for two different clinical treatment volumes, prostate only (PO) and prostate plus seminal vesicles (PSV) were studied to determine the optimal three-field plan arrangement for prostate radiotherapy. Materials and methods: A variety of conformal three-field 6 MV plans prescribed to both 64 and 74 Gy were created for PO and PSV volumes in each of ten patients. For description, the orientation of each sequential beam was named in a clockwise fashion. Plans included series with arrangements of 0°, 60–150°, 210–300°; 0°, 90°, 225–255°; 90°, 210–240°, 300–330° and a four-field (4F) box plan for comparison. Six-hundred and eighty plans were compared using the rectal volume irradiated to greater than 50% ( V 50), 80% ( V 80), and 90% ( V 90) of the prescribed dose, normal tissue complications (NTCP) for rectum, bladder, and femoral heads (FH), and tumour control probabilities (TCP). FH tolerance was set at 52 Gy to 10% volume. Results: In comparing the 34 different three-field configurations for each of the PO and PSV groups, the greatest rectal sparing was achieved by a three-field plan with gantry angles of 0°, 90°, 270° (PO: rectal V 80=22.8±5.5% (1S.D.), V 90=18.4±5.7%, and PSV: rectal V 80=41.9±5.8%, V 90=35.5±5.9%). This also improved on the 4F-box plan (PO: rectal V 80=26.0±5.8%, V 90=21.4±5.2%, P<0.001; and PSV: rectal V 80=47.3±5.5%, V 90=41.6±5.1%, P<0.001). The worst rectal sparing was seen with the 0°, 120°, 240° plan (PO: rectal V 80=35.2±8.0%, V 90=30.3±7.1%, P<0.001; and PSV: rectal V 80=65.7±9.0%, V 90=58.8±8.8%, P<0.001). In the PO group, the increase in predicted rectal NTCP with dose escalation from 64 to 74 Gy was 3.3% using the 0°, 90°, 270° plan, 4.7% with the 4F-box plan, and 6.9% with the 0°, 120°, 240° plan. In the PSV group, dose escalation increased the predicted rectal NTCP by 7.9, 10.1 and 15.7% for the 0°, 90°, 270° plan, 4F-box plan, and 0°, 120°, 240° plan, respectively. Conclusions: For both PO and PSV volumes, the three-field plan which afforded the greatest rectal sparing with acceptable bladder and femoral head doses was the 0°, 90°, 270° plan. This plan also improved on the 4F-box. The increase in predicted rectal NTCP when escalating dose from 64 to 74 Gy was smaller using this plan compared to either the three-field 0°, 120°, 240° plan or the 4F-box plan.